INTERVIEW: Byker Grave Festival

Image: Lee, James, Stu and Connor

Over the years there’s been many people responsible for keeping underground metal alive in Newcastle, arguably none more so than the collective of musicians and promoters at Byker Grave Bookings. Their annual centrepiece is Byker Grave Festival, which showcases the best heavy music the region has to offer as well as bringing some exciting bands to Newcastle. I spoke to James Watts about the festival’s origins and its upcoming edition, where it is embarking on its biggest year yet by any metric.

“It started by accident – an event called Northern Darkness had been booked at the Uni, headlined by At The Gates, Napalm Death and Decapitated.” James says about BGB’s beginnings. “About six weeks beforehand, it was cancelled due to ‘poor ticket sales’. At the time, I was working on a remix for one of the bands on the line-up, Primitive Graven Image, and looked into putting a replacement show on, mainly as I wanted to see them. A couple of other people had the same idea and I ended up organising the event with Stu from Tombs In The Valley/Brofest and Paul from ‘Kin Hell Fest based in Leeds. We put on 10 bands at The Globe and I think we did 100-150 tickets. Really there was no goal beyond catering for those who were stuck with travel and hotel bookings.”

Over a decade later, Byker Grave Bookings has continued to expand, bringing more promoters – such as Conviction, Inverted Grim-Mill, Tyne & Queer and Panurus – into the fold, and the festival continues to grow. This year sees an upswing in terms of capacity and the profile of the headlining bands. Byker Grave Festival takes place at Newcastle University Students’ Union on Saturday 7^th December, and is headlined by misanthropic sludge icons Eyehategod and the blackened thrash dirge of Goatwhore – both from New Orleans – and by Venom Inc, the current incarnation of local speed/thrash pioneers Venom, in a rare hometown appearance. The changes apparent in this year’s festival seemingly reflect an extreme scene in Newcastle that is thriving. 

We are now a group of formerly independent/solo promoters working from the same page to bring gigs here all year round

“11 years on, the festival is five or six times the size capacity wise, the line-up is stronger, the team behind it is bigger. In all aspects it has grown. A lot of that has been relatively recent developments – we did more or less the same thing for a decade, with similar numbers each year. We are now a group of formerly independent/solo promoters working from the same page to bring gigs here all year round. My view is that since lockdown restrictions ended, turnouts improved and haven’t gone back down. We’ve had a bunch of well attended shows going back a couple of years. The days of six people turning up at the Northumberland Arms seem a distant past. More of the bigger tours are coming to Newcastle. Promoters who wouldn’t typically do heavier shows are interested now. It all points towards a positive outlook from my perspective.”

The line-up this year is completed by Druidess, Goblinsmoker, Ard, Margarita Witch Cult and Discharge. The growth of Byker Grave doesn’t end with the festival either, and James added some exciting news regarding their latest venture. 

“We’ll be taking over the room above The Cluny 2 as the Byker Grave Bar. The goal is to turn it into a rock bar with a focus on community events and engagement. We will be starting with Fridays and Saturdays soon!”